The VERY BEST Strategy Games - What makes a game TRULY strategic?

[@wladimiralexander5568]

I like your honesty and not biased information/ reviews. Keep up the good work. Love the shirt btw.

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thank you so much!

[@theperfectboardgame]

I only just learned City of the Big Shoulders. While all the games on this list are games I don’t feel comfortable putting a game that is so new for me on a list like this, but WOW! It really intrigues me. I’ll be playing this a lot more.

[@jameskirk4692]

Thank you for this interesting analysis video! It's great!

[@ParlorPunch]

That was terrific, thank you!!

[@theperfectboardgame]

I’m glad to hear it! This video was a lot of fun to make, too.

[@dylancross6145]

Thanks for the great video! Subscribed 👍

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks for the sub!

[@perrymihalakos2119]

Some very interesting points and recommendations. Thank you! The game I'd like to put on your radar is Richard Sivél 's Maria.

[@jacobjslee]

Really interesting choices. I'm aware of all of them, but haven't played any of them. If I had to predict which one has the most replay value (which is the main thing I look for) I would say . . . don't know yet. Gotta read up some more on each of them. I suspect Autobahn is the one with the least replayability of the five. But I'm not into "track building" type games so I probably wouldn't like Ultimate Railroads as much either.

[@theperfectboardgame]

I’m glad you found it interesting. I can tell you must be really into the hobby. When I first got into games, I decided early on that I shouldn’t spend my money on copies of games that my friends showed to me; it was better to look into games that they didn’t already know about so I could have something to show them. That is a practice I keep to this day. Yes, I still play heavy hitting games, but when I give recommendations, I do have a bias for lesser-known games (as long as the recommendation is truly merited!)

[@theperfectboardgame]

…but as far as “most repayable”. That is an excellent exercise for you, the viewer to discover!

[@rhonir3209]

Thanks for the video! I’m rather new to board games, have just been playing Magic for the last years and wanted to try something new with my friends. Thanks for the recommendations!

[@hanslamal5632]

Where is Hive? 🤔

[@muhamadsandykhoirun9117]

lucky me, in my country's online shop there are still many who sell Carnegie even the Kickstarter version with iron cubes

[@theperfectboardgame]

Games that are both this rich AND feature a unique mechanic are rare.

[@CHRartistOfficial]

To be honest my fav game is Root what about it hardest and the most strategic I have ever played

[@AdrianAcaom]

Hi! In this way, What do you think about Lacerda's games? How much strategy have they in your opinion? Because are known as complicated and "heavy" games, and I doubt about how much of their weight is understood as strategy and how much as dificult-learning rules. Greetings from Spain!

[@theperfectboardgame]

I’m far from an expert in Lacerda games. I own On Mars and the Gallerist and have played Kanban. I used to be really excited about them, but in practice, I don’t have a group of friends with enough time to learn and play them. In any case, this is my opinion from what I do know: I think Lacerda’s games are so complicated because they go to great lengths to incorporate mechanics that embody the theme. They do this without adding in too much luck. Because the games are so thematic, I think the consequences of your actions make a degree of intuitive sense: doing one thing will affect the cost or availability of something else in a logical way. This actually helps out a lot: it may be complicated, but at least it makes sense. In any case, on my own scale, I would rate all of his games near the very end of the strategy and complexity gradient. They are indeed very strategic, the obstacle is seeing the strategy through the complexity, but his designs help a player do this, given the time to understand the rules.

[@AdrianAcaom]

Thank you so much@theperfectboardgame for the response. I was thinking about it and I suppose that Lacerdas' complexity (and many other eurogames'), despite having less branches per action than abstract games like Go or Chess, are closer to puzzles and Rubik's cube (which can be resolved in a few movements, but its intrincated connections make them complex).

[@coltonbeatty6117]

​@@AdrianAcaom Lacerda games don't have much replayability, mostly. The narrowness or lack of breadth between available actions and their consequences, including secondary effects (faux-interactive benefits to others), will entail that playing them well just further limits what actions have any rationale behind them. I say "mostly" because one of his games that MIGHT have the most replayability of them all, On Mars, is one of few of his I can't speak to.

[@WhatsDaveUpTo]

Troyes and Hansa Teutonics. The best, interactive, modern strategy games.

[@filiplazov5895]

Troyes is very tactical imo, a great game none the less

[@tw6721]

My man, you ever played Stramash?

[@theperfectboardgame]

No, I haven’t. I mostly stick to thematic games these days.

[@ghstrdio]

That's not the history of man. You should do more research on why they were lined up that way😂

[@theperfectboardgame]

Sorry if I flubbed that. It was beyond the scope of this video for sure. I read an interesting book called Sapiens. That was full of some neat theories, but I just wanted to make a shirt that displayed board games over time.

[@SpartacusSpielt]

What about Crescent Moon (by Osprey Games)? Highly asymmetrical and very beautiful.

[@howardhodges4526]

The Urim and thurim

[@theperfectboardgame]

In reference to the bone dice shown in the beginning?

[@howardhodges4526]

Cool

[@mattwatson3407]

Sorry man. All your videos have the music too loud when you’re talking. I can’t understand you for like half of the video.

[@theperfectboardgame]

I really appreciate the comment. I’m sorry the video was useless to you, but letting me know why is very helpful. I don’t use music anymore. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get the volume right.

[@mattwatson3407]

@@theperfectboardgame Great! Good to know. I will check out some newer videos.